Guide: vnc from windows to Antix using x11vnc

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bffarmer
Posts: 12
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2019 11:02 am

Guide: vnc from windows to Antix using x11vnc

#1 Post by bffarmer »

Using vnc remote desktop from windows machine to Antix Linux (probably also works with MX linux)

Warning: This guide is for unencrypted vnc sessions.
I strongly recommend you do not use this guide except for local network that is firewalled from the internet.

My present setup is a single windows 10 pc for gaming and for controlling my other linux computers, for remote sessions out side of my home, I like to use teamviewer but for my local firewalled network, I prefer just using vnc without a login.

I tried tigervnc server with success but I could not copy and paste into the window, so I moved over to x11vnc 0.9.13-2 from debian stable, which crashes when right clicking on menu. I then tried version 0.9.13-6 from testing and it worked great


-------------------------------
To install x11vnc into antiX-17.3.1 based on debian stable.

sudo -i
geany /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list

As of January 2019, you must use debian testing repository for version 0.9.13-6 or it will crash on menu click. debian "stable" version 0.9.13-2 crashes when clicking on menus.

uncomment
#deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ testing non-free contrib main


apt-get update
apt-get install x11vnc
(yes I know I could navigate menus but I prefer terminal copy and paste from website guides.)

-----------------
If your antix machine has a firewall, you will need add an exception for port 5900

----------------
terminal command for x11vnc is....

x11vnc

----------------
setup autostart for antix.

geany /home/user/.desktop-session/startup
replace (user) with your own login name.
example:
geany /home/bffarmer/.desktop-session/startup

add following line below the line that sets up your wicd

x11vnc -forever -display :0 >/dev/null 2>&1 &

-----------------
connect from windows pc using a vnc client like tightvnc to ip address

of linux computer using port 5900
example:
192.168.1.80:5900

-----------------
If your antix machine has a firewall, you will need add an exception for port 5900
-----------------

references:
https://antixlinux.com/forum-archive/so ... t7077.html
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/166 ... vnc-viewer make x11vnc persistant
https://www.linux.com/learn/many-ways-u ... top-x11vnc useful if you want to set up a password.
https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugrepo ... bug=859213 (bug report for x11vnc 0.9.13-2 crashing)

caprea
Posts: 146
Joined: Sat Aug 23, 2014 7:01 am

Re: Guide: vnc from windows to Antix using x11vnc

#2 Post by caprea »

Thanks for sharing. Just yesterday someone asked about it on the other antiXforum.
https://www.antixforum.com/forums/topic ... -at-start/

bffarmer
Posts: 12
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2019 11:02 am

Re: Guide: vnc from windows to Antix using x11vnc

#3 Post by bffarmer »

cool! This is what's great about the internet. :)

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Fibogacci
Posts: 165
Joined: Sun Dec 30, 2018 4:19 pm

Re: Guide: vnc from windows to Antix using x11vnc

#4 Post by Fibogacci »

Hello,

I was playing with x11vnc yesterday for the first time, with 2 computers with MX-18, local network (my home).

If there is ufw enabled (firewall) on your system, rule can be added with gufw (graphical interface for ufw) or with CLI. You should know local IP address for client computer (from which you connect to server - second machine).

To check if firewall (ufw) is enabled on computer with X11VNC Server, type in terminal:
$ sudo ufw status

Status: active

Type command in terminal on client computer and look for "inet" and IP:

$ ifconfig

wlan0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
inet 192.168.1.2 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 192.168.1.255
.....
.....

In my example, client computer IP is 192.168.1.2

To add rule with CLI and uwf for computer with X11VNC server running, type in terminal (for default port 5900):

$ sudo ufw allow from 192.168.1.2 to any port 5900 proto tcp

To show added rules use:

$ sudo ufw show added

Added user rules (see 'ufw status' for running firewall):
ufw allow from 192.168.1.2 to any port 5900 proto tcp

To remove added rule (because you don't use VNC any more) and there is only one rule (#1)

$ sudo ufw delete 1

Deleting:
allow from 192.168.1.2 to any port 5900 proto tcp
Proceed with operation (y|n)? y
Rule deleted

I'm using SSVNC for connection. It works fine.

On X11VNC server I checked "Enable SSL" at the beginning and in Properties "Accept Connections". I set up password as well.

Interface of X11VNC is not so easy to learn (there are many options), but there is always time for that. ;)
MX-18 Continuum x86_64: laptop Dell Inspiron N7110, Intel Core i5-2410M @ 2.900GHz, 4GB RAM, Kernel: 4.19, DE: Xfce

QuidANkEpLuChIpS
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Feb 12, 2019 12:31 am

Re: Guide: vnc from windows to Antix using x11vnc

#5 Post by QuidANkEpLuChIpS »

Can we please get an updated version of x11vnc, at least in the MX testing repo? A VNC server that crashes on right click is arguably unusable, so having one that users could get to from the MX Package Installer seems like a good idea. For folks reading this that want a more secure option, you probably want to check out the very nice ssh-conduit-antix package. Dolphin has a video here: viewtopic.php?t=44663. From Windows, if you want a combined solution for VNC over SSH, there are Windows packages of ssvnc here: http://www.karlrunge.com/x11vnc/ssvnc.html. Or you can ssh in (putty, the new built in version in Win10, etc.) with ssh username@server -L 5930:localhost:5900 and then use whatever vnc viewer you like using localhost:5930.

User avatar
figueroa
Posts: 1049
Joined: Fri Dec 21, 2018 12:20 am

Re: Guide: vnc from windows to Antix using x11vnc

#6 Post by figueroa »

VNC users might consider it an upgrade to remotely access Linux distributions using x2go. It works flawlessly with MX and antiX, is open source and actively developed.
https://wiki.x2go.org/doku.php/start
x2go maintains a Debian stable repository and the installation instructions work perfectly. x2goclient and x2goserver are also now available through MX Package Installer, though I used the x2go maintained repository.

I was a long time vnc user, but gave up vnc for NX, then when Nomachine's NX got too fancy, I moved to x2go and have been very happy with it.
Andy Figueroa
Using Unix from 1984; GNU/Linux from 1993

ndinev
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2021 9:21 am

Re: Guide: vnc from windows to Antix using x11vnc

#7 Post by ndinev »

I am trying to autostart x11vnc on mxlinux 21

I added x11vnc line to

Code: Select all

 /home/user/.desktop-session/startup
as mentioned above but seems server is not started on startup
Just wondering if this is correct location?
If i start x11vnc with same command as in file above from terminal it works fine

ndinev
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2021 9:21 am

Re: Guide: vnc from windows to Antix using x11vnc

#8 Post by ndinev »

I am trying to autostart x11vnc on mxlinux 21

I added x11vnc line to

Code: Select all

 /home/user/.desktop-session/startup
as mentioned above but seems server is not started on startup
Just wondering if this is correct location?
If i start x11vnc with same command as in file above from terminal it works fine

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